In 2006, while she was vice-premier in the federal government, Knack, a prominent Flemish magazine in Belgium alleged that she had not written the obligatory thesis for her master's degree herself.

Rather, due to the complexity of the thesis she submitted, Knack journalist Koen Meulenaere [nl] alleged that the thesis had actually been written by Frank De Moor [nl], also a former Knack journalist and a friend of Freya Van den Bossche's father, the prominent socialist politician, Luc Van den Bossche.

Freya Van den Bossche subsequently submitted a criminal complaint against Koen Meulenaere for slander and defamation.

[1] In response to a question posed by the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws on whether she did in fact write her thesis, Ms. Van den Bossche replied: "Would that make a difference?

Freya first came to national attention in Belgium in a televised debating competition between candidates in a municipal election who were the children of well-known politicians.

She was quickly promoted and was put on her Social Democrat Party's list in East Flanders for the federal parliament in 2003, attracting 105,000 votes.